MARKET PREVIEW: Can earnings keep Fed worries away?

AT&T's quarterly report, and another new batch of earnings could keep inflation fears at bay again Tuesday. Asian and European markets were up, and the Dow is set to open flat.

U.S.

A senior Federal Reserve official who has previously been against raising interest rates made some hawkish comments Monday which could make techs skittish ahead of the Fed's meeting May 16. Robert McTeer, president of the Dallas Fed said inflation appeared to be picking up and described the recent release of data on March consumer prices, which surged 0.7 percent, as "a terrible number."

AT&T (NYSE: T) and its wireless unit will take the spotlight with their quarterly reports; releases from Healtheon/Web MD (Nasdaq: HLTH), S1 (Nasdaq: SONE) and Williams Communication (NYSE: WCG) are also due.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Barnesandnoble.com, Compuware, Expedia and Macrovision.

Investors snapped up semiconductor and network-equipment shares Monday, pushing the Nasdaq composite up 98 points to 3,958.49. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 78 points to 10,811.78.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open flat. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 0.10 to 1476 at 7:31 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was up 9 to 521.29.

Asia

Trading in Asia was on an upswing. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.20 to 18,439, Singapore's Strait Times index gained 0.13 percent to 2,166 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.92 percent to 15,817.

Europe

European markets were also moving ahead. London's FTSE 100 climbed 1.17 percent to 6,401. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 2.08 percent to 6,552 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.80 percent to 7,547 at 7:03 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.